7/13 Dog Sitting

My son and his family went out of town for a week, so I agreed to watch the dog while I was staying at Punderson State Park.  I had watched her before for a few days, and she is mostly a pretty good dog. 

First thing I did was put a rug on my sofa to protect the cover that is hiding the fact that the vinyl on it is disintegrating.  Also, the cover is stretchy, and I figured she would paw at it. It is where she usually stands or sits to watch people and other dogs who are walking past. Dog seems comfortable. 

 

However, she spent the first hour or so trying to decide where she wanted to sleep, and seemed uncomfortable on the sofa, so I added a beach towel to act as a pillow and a cushion on the floor.  I think mostly she felt restless because she missed her owners.  

 

However, since it was hot outside, she often liked to stretch out on the bare floor in the kitchen, so I put the cushion back on the dinette where it belongs. 

 

The biggest problem was that she is used to sleeping in a real bed at night with her owners.  However, I really don't like sharing a bed with a dog, so I closed my bedroom door.  She pathetically kept sleeping on the floor outside my bedroom, and it was cold, so I tossed the beach towel on her, thinking that it might make her sleep longer in the morning, as I am not fond of early morning dog walking.  

Eventually, she gave up trying to make me let her into my bed and slept most nights on the rug on the sofa.  

 

 

There are not a lot of people in my son's neighborhood walking around during the day, so she really enjoyed dog and people watching.  

 

 

All campgrounds require that dogs be on 6' leashes when they are outside, so I had to take her for a walk several times a day.  She really wanted to just run free.  On weekdays, the place is pretty empty, so lots fewer distractions for her. 

However, one distraction was this fat ground hog.  The day before, it had waddled across the campground roadway and went into the drainpipe.  Dog went nuts and stuck her entire head and neck into pipe after the groundhog. If the drainpipe had been a couple of inches wider, I am sure she would have got at least her shoulders inside and might have gotten stuck. 

On this day, I noticed the groundhog hiding in another section of the drain pipe.  However, since doggy was bird watching, she did not notice it right away.  This gave me time to take some photos. 

 

 

It took her a few seconds to notice it, but I was able to get this closeup.  The delay also gave me time to tighten up on the leash, so when she tried to go after it this time, I was able to stop her.  

And to end this posting, this is what a dog looks like when it wants out and knows that looking pathetic is the only way to convince you!